Queen Mary and Husbands!
- Thread starter Dink
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This is all opinion of course and I am by far no expert on dealing with different cultures - I've only been here for 10 months myself in HK. However, the only times I find myself getting frustrated or upset is when I find myself feeling entitled. Who cares how the nurses may or may not be treating other patients- regardless of their race. Worry about yourself. I have a hard time believing that the nurses think twice about how they are treating you or making you feel - their job is not to make feel like a princess - their job is to give you the best medical care and attention. There is no secret that QMH has visiting hours. Do some of the women possibly get around those set rules? Yes. Does that mean that everyone is entitled to break the rules? No. If someone on the MTR manages to get through without paying does this mean that you too should feel that this is your right - so that you're being treated 'equally'?? Breaking the rules is just that, breaking the rules. They are there for a reason and regardless of that reason, you make the choice (most likely) to be in that place and therefore you agreed to follow their rules no matter what you think of them. My advice, go to the hospital to deliver your baby. Visit the Four Seasons for a nice, pampered experience.
really wow carang! Your lucky! The people at NICU were so insulted that we brought cakes we were asked "never to do it again" literally! We couldn't believe our ears and at that moment couldn't understand what harm cakes would do. Anyhow, perhaps that was the crew at the NICU only.
carang
Registered User
i spent all of my time on the 9th floor... i think i was there for over 2 months, all told, and got to know the staff fairly well... one of the nurses would even come and ask what i was reading and if i could suggest any good english books for her... when i went the next time, she had read one of the books and was very happy that she could talk about them with me.
dbmum - missing the point! It's about patterns of baheviour - I don;t expect the Four Seasons. But I do expect equal, equiatble, fair treatment, which does not always occur. You're talking about 'entitlement' based on a concept of what happens elsewhere - I'm talking about entitlement based on what you see the women in the next receiving. And it IS about medical care.
Lesliefu - if you;re on;y there a few days, then coping is one thing. If you're there longer (as I have been on multiple occasions) you really start to see how much impact the nurse have. And granted, this is most often due to overwork. But if you're in pain at 3 in the morning, and te nurse won't stop reading her magazine to help you, then that's simply not acceptable - not matter where you're from!
Lesliefu - if you;re on;y there a few days, then coping is one thing. If you're there longer (as I have been on multiple occasions) you really start to see how much impact the nurse have. And granted, this is most often due to overwork. But if you're in pain at 3 in the morning, and te nurse won't stop reading her magazine to help you, then that's simply not acceptable - not matter where you're from!
M
MLBW
Guest
Bedside manner is a part of medical care--not an addition to it.
I found this to be an interesting read:
The Sick House
There are serious problems with the public hospital system in HK and most of it starts with cashflow. The bad news? Doesn't look like any of them will be seriously addressed anytime soon because of the worldwide economic troubles.
Just this week I was also watching the news. A man from Hong Kong was the focus of one of the news stories. He was admitted to hospital, contracted pneumonia and they thus performed a lung operation on him--which was somewhat botched and now he can barely breathe or talk (I think he was in his late 20s). He went to another hospital and was told, "Oh, that infection you had, could have been treated just as easily with medication--the operation was completely unnecessary." The gist of the entire news piece was that the Hospital Authority is it's own investigatory body--so if something goes wrong in the hospital who investigates it? The hospital itself. So, there is a strong voice to set up a medical ombudsman in HK to lobby for patients' rights here as if something goes wrong (especially if the patient doesn't have a lot of financial means to sue) there is literally no recourse and it is very rare that any substantial punishment or justice is served.
I found this to be an interesting read:
The Sick House
There are serious problems with the public hospital system in HK and most of it starts with cashflow. The bad news? Doesn't look like any of them will be seriously addressed anytime soon because of the worldwide economic troubles.
Just this week I was also watching the news. A man from Hong Kong was the focus of one of the news stories. He was admitted to hospital, contracted pneumonia and they thus performed a lung operation on him--which was somewhat botched and now he can barely breathe or talk (I think he was in his late 20s). He went to another hospital and was told, "Oh, that infection you had, could have been treated just as easily with medication--the operation was completely unnecessary." The gist of the entire news piece was that the Hospital Authority is it's own investigatory body--so if something goes wrong in the hospital who investigates it? The hospital itself. So, there is a strong voice to set up a medical ombudsman in HK to lobby for patients' rights here as if something goes wrong (especially if the patient doesn't have a lot of financial means to sue) there is literally no recourse and it is very rare that any substantial punishment or justice is served.
I guess you get what you pay for then.
I'd take the public system here over anything in the US - there you'll pay thousands of dollars if you're lucky enough to HAVE insurance that you pay for in addition to any hospital/doctor's fees. Maybe if giving birth in a hospital setting really upsets anyone that much they should look into home birthing options...
I'd take the public system here over anything in the US - there you'll pay thousands of dollars if you're lucky enough to HAVE insurance that you pay for in addition to any hospital/doctor's fees. Maybe if giving birth in a hospital setting really upsets anyone that much they should look into home birthing options...
M
MLBW
Guest
I did look into home birthing options in HK but it borders on the illegal here. One family (has 7 children) we know of, at the advent of their last child's birth were unable to make it to the hospital in time and therefore had a home birth--the police came and investigated the place like it was the scene of a crime (they thought the family had kidnapped a newborn and was trying to cover for it) because there is no system in place for reporting a home birth--they are "not supposed to happen" in HK. From everything I learned during my time researching home birth, the midwives (Annerly) do not do home births and anyone who attempts to do them is either in breech of the law or nearing that (something attune to practicing medicine without a license). In my case, I would never be able to have a home birth because of the possibility of excessive bleeding (I know that now in hindsight). I went back to the USA, we did not have insurance, we did pay "out of pocket" (on a loan scheme) and it was 100% worth it. We didn't have doctors fees as we went through a midwife program that is a tiny fraction of what hiring a doctor to pop in and catch the kid as it comes out (oh, and thus, my husband got the privilege of catching our son too!).
The whole point, I guess, is it can be better and should be better if there was different training and a different system--I think that is also the point of the articles we're seeing about the hospital system here as well--the system is broken (a man dying of heart attack outside the doors of a hospital is left to well, just die because he didn't call 999 first--that is perfect proof of a broken system).
The whole point, I guess, is it can be better and should be better if there was different training and a different system--I think that is also the point of the articles we're seeing about the hospital system here as well--the system is broken (a man dying of heart attack outside the doors of a hospital is left to well, just die because he didn't call 999 first--that is perfect proof of a broken system).
Bedside manner is a part of medical care--not an addition to it.
Dr Lucy Lord is a great doctor, but her bedside manners are terrible...so it really isn't one and the same thing in her case. It's really what you can put up with and what you can take and whether or not it is worthwhile to you. Dr Lord has plenty of patients, whom either can put up with her bedside manner, or believe she is so good at what she does she is worth just ignoring....who knows!
M
MLBW
Guest
Bedside manner is a part of medical care--not an addition to it.
Dr Lucy Lord is a great doctor, but her bedside manners are terrible...so it really isn't one and the same thing in her case. It's really what you can put up with and what you can take and whether or not it is worthwhile to you. Dr Lord has plenty of patients, whom either can put up with her bedside manner, or believe she is so good at what she does she is worth just ignoring....who knows!
I guess I should clarify when I'm talking about bedside manner, I am visualizing what I said from the beginning of this discussion--women in labor having to adjust their own rusted-hinge hospital beds because "it's not the nurses' job", not being helped to learn how to feed their babies so the babies cry all night long and then barking at the mothers for letting the baby cry all night long, women being humiliated in labor (one friend was giving birth in the public hospital and the staff told her she was a "wimp" because she wasn't pushing hard enough or fast enough...berating her while she's trying to push a baby out!)....things like that...basic hospital care, I believe. If Dr. Lord participates in the above actions or condones them, I would still rate her as a below-par doctor (no matter how "great" her medical knowledge/care is)--as those things are just basic common sense--especially for a doctor who charges you a hefty fee as I'm sure she does (based on the price listings I saw for her about two years ago). However, I can't speak about her service as I've never been to her and don't remember hearing much about her (other than what you just told me and seeing her fee schedule).
Of course, but if you have Dr. Lord as your doctor, wouldn't you be delivering privately? Is she a regular doctor in the public hospital? And if you are delivering privately (or in some sort of private package) wouldn't you be choosing your own doctor? It's not like you just show up and they assign you a doctor like with the public system, right?
So, what I have to say, is if it's your choice and you're choosing the doctor, and that doctor's bedside manners happen to be deplorable (or less than standard), then it's sorta your own choice to have that doctor--if you want a good doctor with good bedside manners there are other options out there--Dr. Lord is obviously not the only choice for doctors who deliver babies who are good--I'm sure there are other doctors out there in HK who are recommendable for all aspects of care (medical + bedside manner)--I've even been recommended some by other foreign friends when I was pregnant. But, in the public system--you don't get to choose your doctor so it's probably a different situation all together.
You'll find just as many Dr Lord fans as you will detractors. I've never had any issues with her bedside manner. She's always been incredibly reassuring with me, taking the time to over different risks involved in treatments and birth options.
I'm not interested in comapring what goes on elsewhere - I'm interested in what goes on here in HK: what is good, what is terrible and ways to make it better.
One of the arguments the nurses her use about adjusting your own bed is that it gets you up and moving - and any clinical data will tell you that the sooner you can get up and move around the better. The problem comes when the nurse WON'T help you when you really need it. And that's just one, fairly easy example.
For example, I was not allowed off my back for 24 hours after birth due to a bleeding disorder, which was well documented. The nurses told me to just 'lean over' and pick up the baby - 8 hours after a general aneasthetic, with multiple IVs in both hands, it simply wasn;t possible. Even if I could 'reach' (which I couldn't - pain!!) the IV cords wouldn't alow the needed length. The night nurse got realy grumpy with me. That's simply not on. I had to call out to her, becasue I didn't have a call button. What am I meant to do - lket the baby cry? NOt feed him? Disobey doctors orders to not get up? Pull out the IV? Just a ridiculous situation made worse by the attitude of the staff.
I'm not interested in comapring what goes on elsewhere - I'm interested in what goes on here in HK: what is good, what is terrible and ways to make it better.
One of the arguments the nurses her use about adjusting your own bed is that it gets you up and moving - and any clinical data will tell you that the sooner you can get up and move around the better. The problem comes when the nurse WON'T help you when you really need it. And that's just one, fairly easy example.
For example, I was not allowed off my back for 24 hours after birth due to a bleeding disorder, which was well documented. The nurses told me to just 'lean over' and pick up the baby - 8 hours after a general aneasthetic, with multiple IVs in both hands, it simply wasn;t possible. Even if I could 'reach' (which I couldn't - pain!!) the IV cords wouldn't alow the needed length. The night nurse got realy grumpy with me. That's simply not on. I had to call out to her, becasue I didn't have a call button. What am I meant to do - lket the baby cry? NOt feed him? Disobey doctors orders to not get up? Pull out the IV? Just a ridiculous situation made worse by the attitude of the staff.